Making YUM Faster
Question: When I run updates with YUM (an update tool for Redhat, CentOS, or Fedora Linux), it seems like it takes forever. How can I make it faster?
Answer: Although there many things to consider when trouble-shooting speed issues, one specific YUM concern might be the speed of the mirror sites used for downloading packages. If download time seems to be the main concern (as opposed to actual installation time), installing yum-fastmirror should help.
This simple program will automatically seek out the fastest YUM mirror servers and then store the metadata in /var/cache/yum/timedhosts.txt. The plugin works by timing all the servers that come up in the mirror list and then selecting the one that is fastest for your location. Locations closer to you on less congested servers usually connect and send data faster. With yum-fastmirror, this can all be configured automatically.
To install the plugin, enter as root:
yum install yum-fastmirror
